The creator advertising glossary.

Ad fraud is fake activity, such as bot clicks, fake installs or fabricated leads, made to collect payouts. Paying for deeper revenue events, like verified deposits, makes fraud much harder to profit from.

Attribution is the process of deciding which ad, channel or creator gets credit for a conversion. In creator advertising it's usually done with tracking links, promo codes or a mobile measurement partner, and it decides who gets paid on a performance campaign.

An attribution window is how long after someone clicks or views an ad a conversion can still be credited to it, for example 7 days after a click. Longer windows credit more conversions to the ad; shorter ones are stricter.

Brand safety means keeping ads away from content or creators that could harm a brand's reputation. With creator ads, it starts with vetting creators and reviewing content before it's published.

A call to action is the specific next step an ad asks the viewer to take, such as "download the app," "get a quote" or "use code SAVE20." A clear, single CTA is one of the biggest drivers of conversion.

Compliance review is checking an ad against legal, industry and platform rules before it runs, such as required disclaimers, prohibited claims and proper disclosure. Panel reviews every ad for compliance before it goes live.

A conversion is a user completing the action an ad is asking for: installing an app, requesting a quote, opening an account or making a purchase. Which action counts as the conversion is agreed before a campaign starts.

A conversion event is the tracked action that marks a conversion, for example `install`, `registration` or `first_deposit` in a measurement tool. On Panel, the conversion event you pay for is called a revenue event.

Cost per acquisition is what an advertiser pays for each customer who completes a target action, such as opening an account or making a first deposit. It's calculated as total spend divided by the number of acquisitions, and it's the most common way to judge whether a performance campaign is profitable.

Cost per install is the price paid for each new install of a mobile app driven by an ad. It's the standard pricing unit for app campaigns, but an install on its own says little about whether that user will ever sign up, deposit or pay.

Cost per lead is the price paid for each lead an ad produces, such as a completed quote form, a consultation request or a sign-up with contact details. Advertisers usually pay only for leads that meet agreed criteria.

Cost per mille is the price of 1,000 ad impressions ("mille" is Latin for thousand). It's the traditional unit for buying media and many creator sponsorships, and it pays for reach whether or not anyone takes action.

A creator ad is an ad made and presented by a content creator in their own voice, for their own audience. Creator ads tend to feel native to the platform, which is why they often outperform traditional brand-produced ads.

A creator brief is the advertiser's instructions for a creator: key messages, the offer, required claims and disclaimers, and what to avoid. Good briefs leave room for the creator's own voice, which is what makes creator ads work.

A dedicated video is a creator video entirely about one brand or product. It gives more room to explain an offer but usually costs more and can reach fewer viewers than the creator's regular content.

A deep link sends a user to a specific screen inside an app rather than its home screen. A deferred deep link does the same even when the app isn't installed yet, taking the user to that screen right after install.

Exclusivity is a creator agreeing not to promote competing brands for a set period. It protects the advertiser's message but limits the creator's other income, so it's usually paid for.

A first-time deposit is a new customer's first funded deposit into an account. It's the key outcome for fintech apps, brokerages, sportsbooks and prediction markets, because a deposit shows real intent in a way an install or sign-up doesn't.

A flat-fee deal pays a creator a fixed amount for a post or video, regardless of how many people act on it. It's the most common way creator sponsorships are sold, and it puts all the performance risk on the advertiser.

FTC disclosure is the US requirement that sponsored content clearly says it's an ad. Under the FTC's Endorsement Guides, creators must disclose any paid or material connection to a brand, using plain labels like "#ad" or "Sponsored" that viewers can't miss, and brands share responsibility for making sure it happens.

Geo-restrictions limit where an ad can run or who can act on it, based on location. They're essential for sports betting, where products are legal only in certain states, and for other offers licensed state by state.

The hook is the first one to three seconds of an ad, designed to stop someone scrolling past. In short-form video, the hook often decides whether an ad performs at all.

A hybrid deal combines a smaller guaranteed fee with a performance bonus for each result the content drives. It gives creators some certainty while tying most of the payout to outcomes.

Incrementality measures the conversions that happened because of an ad and wouldn't have happened without it. It's usually tested by comparing an exposed group with a holdout group that didn't see the ads.

An integration is a sponsored segment inside a creator's regular video, typically 30 to 90 seconds. It reaches the creator's usual audience in the middle of content they already chose to watch.

KYC is the identity check a user must pass before a financial or betting account can be funded, usually a name, date of birth, address and ID verification. Many sign-ups drop off at KYC, which is why deposit-based outcomes are a stronger signal than registrations.

Last-click attribution gives all the credit for a conversion to the final ad or link a user clicked before converting. It's simple and common, but it can undervalue creator content that introduced the user earlier.

Lifetime value is the total revenue a customer is expected to generate over their relationship with a business. It sets how much a new customer is worth, and so how much an advertiser can afford to pay to acquire one.

A mobile measurement partner is an independent tool, such as AppsFlyer, Adjust, Branch or Singular, that attributes app installs and in-app events to the ads that drove them. Advertisers and ad platforms both rely on the MMP as a neutral source of truth for performance.

Paid amplification means putting ad spend behind a creator's post so it reaches people beyond the creator's followers. It's often done through whitelisting.

A payout is what a creator earns from a campaign. On performance campaigns it's usually a set amount for each revenue event their content drives, such as an install or a first deposit.

Performance-based pricing means paying for results, such as an install, a sign-up or a first deposit, instead of paying for views, posts or impressions. The advertiser only pays when the ad produces the outcome they care about, which moves the risk of a campaign underperforming away from the brand.

A postback is a server-to-server message that confirms a conversion happened, usually sent from the advertiser's system or MMP to the ad platform. Postbacks are how performance platforms know which revenue events to count and pay for.

A promo code is a unique code a creator shares so conversions can be attributed even when viewers can't click a link, as in podcasts, streams or videos watched on TV. It often doubles as an offer for the viewer, such as a sign-up bonus.

A qualified lead is one that meets the advertiser's criteria, such as the right location, a genuine need or a valid contact, rather than any form submission. In legal and insurance advertising, paying only for qualified leads protects against low-quality or duplicate inquiries.

Quality users are customers who go on to engage, deposit or pay, as opposed to users who install and never return. Paying for deeper revenue events, such as a first deposit instead of an install, is the most direct way to buy quality users.

The rate per outcome is the price an advertiser sets for each revenue event. On Panel, advertisers set a competitive rate per outcome and pay only when the outcome happens.

Regulated categories are industries where advertising must follow extra legal rules, including financial services, insurance, sports betting, legal services and health. Ads in these categories need specific disclaimers, targeting limits and review before they run.

Required disclaimers are statements an ad must include by law or regulation, such as rate and fee terms for financial products, "attorney advertising" labels required by many state bars, or responsible-gambling messages for betting. They're usually specified in the creator brief.

Retention is the share of acquired users who are still active after a set period, such as 7, 30 or 90 days. High retention is a sign a channel is bringing in users who actually want the product.

Return on ad spend is the revenue earned for every dollar spent on advertising: revenue divided by ad spend. A ROAS of 3x means $3 of revenue for every $1 spent.

A revenue event is the specific action a creator campaign tracks and optimizes toward, such as an install, a sign-up, a funded account or a first deposit. It's what the advertiser pays for on a performance campaign, so choosing the right one matters: the closer it is to real revenue, the better the users it brings in.

SKAdNetwork is Apple's privacy-preserving system for attributing iOS app installs without sharing user-level data. It reports conversions in aggregate and with a delay, which makes iOS campaigns harder to measure precisely. Apple's newer AdAttributionKit builds on the same approach.

A talent agency represents a roster of creators and negotiates brand partnerships on their behalf. Agencies can use Panel to add performance-based campaigns across their roster.

A talent manager handles a creator's career, including brand deals, negotiation and scheduling. Talent managers can use Panel to bring performance-based campaigns to the creators they manage.

A tracking link is a unique URL given to each creator or ad so clicks and conversions can be tied back to it. It's the most common way to attribute results from creator content.

Usage rights define how, where and for how long a brand can reuse a creator's content, for example running it as a paid ad or posting it on the brand's own channels for 90 days. They're agreed in the creator contract and usually cost extra beyond the original post.

User-generated content is content made by real users or creators rather than the brand itself. In advertising, "UGC" often means creator-made videos produced for a brand to run as ads, sometimes without being posted on the creator's own channel.

Whitelisting is when a creator gives a brand permission to run paid ads through the creator's account, so the ad appears under the creator's name. TikTok calls these Spark Ads and Meta calls them partnership ads.